Coaster



Jan. 16, 1968 B. J. BLUNDELL COAS'I'ER Filed June 21, 1966 BILLY J. BLUNDELL INVFN J TOR.

BY fifiM/K AGENT United States Patent Ofitice 3,363,369 Patented Jan. 16, 1968 3,363,869 COASTER Billy J. Blunrlell, Oklahoma City, Okla, assignor to Novel Ideas Incorporated, Oklahoma City, Okla., a corporation of Oklahoma Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 364,528, May 4, 1964, now Patent No. 3,257,092, dated June 21, 1966. This application June 21, 1966, Ser. No. 559,264

4 Claims. (Cl. 248--346.1)

The present invention is a continuation-in-part of an application filed by me in the United States Patent Office May 4, 1964, Ser. No. 364,528, for Coaster, now Patent No. 3,257,092.

This invention is distinctive over the patent by eliminating the depending walls of the lid member.

It has been common practice to provide a section of absorbent material at the bottom of a coaster which absorbs the moisture condensing on a drinking glass. Fre: quently the absorbent material becomes saturated and moisture eventually collects in or runs out of the bottom of the coaster. In some coasters the absorbent material is not secured to the coaster and when the material is wet it tends to adhere to the bottom of the drinking glass and be lifted out of the coaster. Other types of coasters have an absorbent material therein which has been glued to the coaster bottom which renders the absorbent material difficult to remove and replace.

It is, therefore, the principal object of this invention to overcome the foregoing difficulties and disadvantages by providing a novel coaster adapted to receive a sheet of moisture absorbent material, such as a paper napkin, which may be readily placed within and easily removed from the coaster.

Another object is to provide a coaster wherein the absorbent material is firmly anchored within the coaster and is not in direct contact with the supporting drinking glass.

Another object is to provide a coaster having a well for retaining excess moisture collecting on and draining out of the saturated absorbent pad.

Yet another object is to provide a coaster of this type which is formed of a unitary section of plastic material arranged in superposed sections to releasably receive a pad of absorbent material therebetween and which is light in weight and attractive in appearance.

The present invention accomplishes these and other objects by hingedly connecting a drinking glass supporting lid member to an absorbent pad nesting base member.

Other objects will be apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying single sheet of drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the coaster illustrating, by dotted lines, a fragment of a drinking glass supported thereby;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the coaster, per se, in open position;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view, to an enlarged scale, taken substantially along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIGURES 4 and 5 are top plan views of alternative embodiments of the coaster.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in those figures of the drawings in which they occur.

In the drawings:

The reference numeral indicates the coaster, as a whole, comprising a base member or bottom section 12 and a top section or lid member 14. The base member 12 includes a horizontal bottom portion 16 having surrounding upstanding side walls 1820 and end walls 22-24 of uniform height joined by rounded corners to enhance its generally square wafer-like appearance and form a shallow Well 25. Adjacent each of the rounded corners the lower surface of the bottom 16 is provided with a support or foot 23, two of which are shown in FIG. 3. The lid member 14 is preferably substantially plate-like and is provided with a central opening or aperture 28 of a size to receive a drinking glass 30, or the like. The lid is defined by side edges 32-34 and end edges 36-38 similarly merging with rounded corners and coinciding in overlying relation, with the outer surfaces of the respective upstanding walls of the base member when in closed position (FIG. 1).

A plurality of crossed bars or strips 42, parallel with the respective side and end edges of the lid, are integrally connected to each other and at their respective ends to the inward surface defining the aperture 28, as seen in FIG. 1, to form a lattice across the aperture 28 to support the drinking glass 30, or the like, when the latter is placed thereon.

The bars 42, in the example shown by FIGS. 1 to 3, are

substantially smaller in transverse dimension than the thickness of the lid member 14 and having their lowermost surfaces coplanar with the plane of the bottom surface of the lid when the latter is in closed position. This forms a relatively shallow indentation in the upper surface of the closed lid defined by the wall forming the aperture 28 and the upper surfaces of the bars 42. 7 Alternatively the lattice configuration maybe achieved by forming a plurality of relatively large closely spacedapart apertures or holes through the lid member 14. The material of the lid between the apertures or holes then defines a lattice pattern which is of equal thickness with respect to the thickness of the lid member such as is shown by the examples of FIGS. 4 and 5.

A portion of the free edge of the bottom end wall 24 is integrally connected to a portion of the lid edge wall 38 to form a relatively thin hinge 44 permitting; vertical pivoting movement of the lid member 14 toward and away from the base member 12.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 4, an alternative configuration for the device, indicated at 10A, comprises a substantially ovate shape, in top plan view, having relatively short straight marginal edge portions 50 preferably disposed perpendicular to the major axis of the ovate shape for connecting a similar hinge 44A.

In this embodiment the lid member 14A has a plurality of relatively large substantially square apertures 51 formed therethrough in closely spaced relation to define a lattice pattern having a substantially circular perimeter spaced inwardly of the marginal edges of the lid. Obviously the holes 51, forming the lattice pattern, may be formed with perimeters having shapes other than square if desired.

Centrally of the lattice bars 42A a portion of the material of the lid forms letters, indicia or a selected insignia for the purposes of forming slogans or trademarks for advertising, or the like, as indicated at 52.

FIGURE 5 illustrates still another embodiment 10B of the device. The device 10B simulates a fanciful leaf, or the like, with the free end portion of the stem portion 54 transversely widened to form straight side edge surfaces for receiving a similar hinge connector 4413.

In the example a plurality of holes 51B, formed through the lid member 143, form a lattice pattern as described hereinabove for the alternate embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 4.

Operation In operation an absorbent member, such as a conventional paper napkin 66), is folded to underlie the position of the glass 30 and is freely received on the bottom 16 within the well 25. The lid is closed and thereafter the drinking glass 30 may be positioned within the aperture 28 on the lattice bars 42. When the napkin is wet or 3 has become soiled it is replaced by manually raising the lid 14.

The operation of the alternative embodiments 10A and 10B is identical to the operation of the device 10 with the exception that the alternative embodiments are not provided with the drinking glass receiving recess 28.

Obviously the invention is susceptible to some change or alteration without defeating its practicability, and I therefore do not wish to be confined to the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings and described herein, further than I am limited by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1.. A coaster for drinking glasses, comprising: a base member having a substantially flat bottom and having a surrounding wall of uniform height forming a moisture and absorbent pad receiving shallow well; an absorbent pad removably received by said Well; a lid member superposed on said base member, the marginal edges of said lid member coinciding with said upstanding wall, said lid member having a plurality of spaced-apart openings in its central portion; and an integrally connected relatively thin hinge joining an upper outer free edge portion of said wall of said base member to a lower outer free edge portion of said lid member.

2. Structure as specified in claim 1 in which said lid member has a circular recess formed in its upper surface coincident with the outermost limit of the openings formed therein and in which the openings are substantially greater in area than the spacing therebetween.

3. Structure as specified in claim 1 in which the openings formed in said lid are substantially greater in area than the spacing therebetween.

4. Structure as specified in claim 2 in which the openings formed in said lid are irregular shaped.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,118,326 5/1938 Richardson 248346.1 3,107,783 10/1963 Corey et a1 22031 FOREIGN PATENTS 5,630 6/1879 Germany.

JOHN PETO, Primary Examiner.

F. DOMOTOR, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A COASTER FOR DRINKING GLASSES, COMPRISING: A BASE MEMBER HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT BOTTOM AND HAVING A SURROUNDING WALL OF UNIFORM HEIGHT FORMING A MOISTURE AND ABSORBENT PAD RECEIVING SHALLOW WELL; AN ABSORBENT PAD REMOVABLY RECEIVED BY SAID WELL; A LID MEMBER SUPERPOSED ON SAID BASE MEMBER, THE MARGINAL EDGES OF SAID LID MEMBER COINCIDING WITH SAID UPSTANDING WALL, SAID LID MEMBER HAVING A PLURALITY OF SPACED-APART OPENINGS IN ITS CENTRAL PORTION; AND AN INTEGRALLY CONNECTED RELATIVELY THIN HINGE JOINING AN UPPER OUTER FREE EDGE PORTION OF SAID WALL OF SAID BASE MEMBER TO A LOWER OUTER FREE EDGE PORTION OF SAID LID MEMBER. 